The present invention relates to a control arrangement for a hydraulically operated device and more specifically to a hydraulically operated cylinder-and-piston unit for raising and lowering a load during feeding of hydraulic fluid into the cylinder of the unit, respectively during discharge of such fluid therefrom. Such devices are known in the art and, for instance, disclosed in the copending applications to Maucher et al, Ser. Nos. 930,979 and 930,982. In these known control arrangements hydraulic fluid flows during a lowering of the load from the device over a check valve and a release piston into a return conduit connected to the tank, whereby the neutral circulation pressure of the fluid holds the release piston in an open position. The disadvantage of these known devices is that the speed of lowering of the load depends on the magnitude of the load, so that the lowering process occurs rather fast if a great load acts on the device and rather slow if a small load acts thereon.